Secure Copy

Last Updated: November 5, 2012

The Secure Copy (SCP) feature provides a secure and authenticated method for copying router configuration or router image files. SCP relies on Secure Shell (SSH), an application and a protocol that provide a secure replacement for the Berkeley r-tools.

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Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.

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Prerequisites for Secure Copy

Before enabling SCP, you must correctly configure SSH, authentication, and authorization on the router.

Because SCP relies on SSH for its secure transport, the router must have an Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman (RSA) key pair.

Information About Secure Copy

How SCP Works

The behavior of SCP is similar to that of remote copy (rcp), which comes from the Berkeley r-tools suite, except that SCP relies on SSH for security. In addition, SCP requires that authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) authorization be configured so the router can determine whether the user has the correct privilege level.

SCP allows a user who has appropriate authorization to copy any file that exists in the Cisco IOS XE File System (IFS) to and from a router by using the copy command. An authorized administrator may also perform this action from a workstation.

MIBs

RFCs

RFCs

Title

No new or modified RFCs are supported by this feature, and support for existing RFCs has not been modified by this feature.

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Technical Assistance

Description

Link

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Feature Information for Secure Copy

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Table 1

Feature Information for Secure Copy

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Configuration Information

Secure Copy

Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1

The Secure Copy (SCP) feature provides a secure and authenticated method for copying router configuration or router image files. SCP relies on Secure Shell (SSH), an application and a protocol that provide a secure replacement for the Berkeley r-tools.

The following commands were introduced or modified: debugipscp, ipscpserverenable.

Glossary

AAA--authentication, authorization, and accounting. Framework of security services that provide the method for identifying users (authentication), for remote access control (authorization), and for collecting and sending security server information used for billing, auditing, and reporting (accounting).

rcp--remote copy. Relying on Remote Shell (Berkeley r-tools suite) for security, rcp copies files, such as router images and startup configurations, to and from routers.

SCP--secure copy. Relying on SSH for security, SCP support allows the secure and authenticated copying of anything that exists in the Cisco IOS XE File Systems. SCP is derived from rcp.

SSH--Secure Shell. Application and a protocol that provide a secure replacement for the Berkeley r-tools. The protocol secures the sessions using standard cryptographic mechanisms, and the application can be used similarly to the Berkeley rexec and rsh tools. SSH Version 1 is implemented in the Cisco IOS XE software.

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